


The Rivals from Ba Sing Se University

by bi_habibi, snowandfire



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ba Sing Se University, F/M, ITS SUKKA TIME, and its beautiful, and they were...project partners, oh my God they were project partners, the inherent romance of libraries at college, they're bicons in love your honor, this is the work of two feral bisexual women, we stan sukka in this household
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26642386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bi_habibi/pseuds/bi_habibi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowandfire/pseuds/snowandfire
Summary: His blue eyes meet hers for a moment before he glances back down at his notes. He clears his throat awkwardly.“I’ve never met a TA that was a girl before,” he says.Suki scoffs, “Wow Sokka...it’s like...I’m a TA, but a girl too...did you grow up under a rock?”If Suki looks closer, she could swear Sokka was blushing.
Relationships: Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 99





	The Rivals from Ba Sing Se University

**Author's Note:**

> one thought, sukka

**Suki's P.O.V**

Suki sat on the bench, watching the other students wander around. She has another hour until the Introduction to Biology class she is a teacher’s assistant for, with Professor Piandao. Her skateboard rests underneath her feet and she carelessly rolls it back and forth. She scrolls through her phone, checking emails. She has no new ones from Piandao, so she hopes she’s doing a good job. 

“Aang, I am the _best_ TA there is, especially in the biology department,” she overhears a boy say.

“Uh-huh,” another boy replies, “What about the girl? Isn’t there a girl who’s also a TA in your department?”

“Yeah, but everyone knows boys are better at science than girls!” the other boy retorts.

Suki narrows her eyes. The boy is only standing a few feet from her, he’s dressed in a blue tank top and, oh Tui and La, _jorts_ . His standard white Ba Sing Se sweatshirt that every student owns is tied around his waist. His hair is pulled back into a ponytail, his back to her. Suki huffs, he was talking about _her_. Suki is not letting that go. She kicks her board out and picks it up, walking up behind him. The other boy he was talking to, a smaller boy with a bald head and blue arrow tattoos, sees her. His grey eyes go wide, like he knows what is about to happen. Suki drops her board, carelessly, before grabbing the other boy by his neck, trapping him in a choke hold. The boy sputters in shock. Suki kicks the back of his knees, forcing him to the ground, she leans down with him, keeping her hold firm as he struggles to break free.

“You, sir, are a _piece of shit_ ,” Suki hisses, before releasing him, picking up her board and skating away.

She kills the rest of her time before Piandao’s class by boarding around campus. Then she pulls up to the science building, which is just a giant white cube. She picks up her board and sees a flash of blue. It’s the boy from earlier. They lock eyes, his blue eyes narrow at her as he stalks over.

“You!” he starts, “What was that for earlier?”

Suki stares at him, “You insulted me, you deserved it.”

The boy gasps at her, the realization dawning on him, “Oh...uh...right, about that, I’m really sorry. I’m Sokka, by the way.”

Suki frowns, he sounds sincere, but she isn’t about to forgive him that easily. She doesn’t say anything else and heads inside. Piandao is setting up his AvatarPoint presentation for class when she walks in, it makes that really annoying yip yip sound as the software opens up. He barely looks at her.

“You’re upset,” he says, in a matter-of-fact way.

Suki rolls her eyes, “Some dickwad insulted me earlier, so I kind of put him in a chokehold, but he deserved it.”

Piandao lets out a little chuckle, “You probably should stop beating up other students.”

“That was _one time_ ,” Suki protests, but Piandao raises a hand to quiet her.

“Class is about to start, let’s not scare the freshman too much.”

Class goes by relatively quickly, Suki doesn’t do much, besides help Piandao with his presentation. The students start packing their things and walking out, Suki gives Toph and Katara, two freshman she tutors, a small wave as they leave. Piandao clears his throat, catching Suki’s attention.

“You know how the freshman have that final project at the end of the semester?” he asks.

Suki nods.

“Well, I want you and the other TA to help make it, of course my husb-, I mean, Professor Jeong Jeong and I, will look over it. However, it’s up to you two to decide what the freshman should do for it, outline it for them, that type of stuff.”

“Okay,” Suki says, “And the other TA is?”

“A young man named Sokka, he’s TAing with Jeong Jeong.”

_Sokka?! There’s no way._

Suki sighs, “Alright.”

Piandao raises an eyebrow at her, but says nothing about her attitude, “I’ve given him your contact information, he should be contacting you soon.”

Suki groans inwardly, but smiles at him before leaving. Her phone dings before she even makes it out the door.

**Unknown number:**

hey...is this suki? its sokka when do u want 2 meet?

**Suki:**

I have a tutoring session from 4pm to 6pm, in the library, we can meet there after.

**Sexist Boi:** ****

bet.

Suki shoves her phone back into her pocket, heading towards the library.

Tutoring two freshmen, who are constantly bickering, is much harder than it looks. It’s like having two younger siblings (which Suki already had). 

“And I’m telling _you_ , that the dependent variable is the one that changes in the experiment group!” Toph says, nearly yelling.

“No! That’s the _independent_ variable, Toph!” Katara counters.

Suki sighs, rubbing her temples, “Katara’s right, Toph.”

Toph lets out a groan as Katara whoops in triumph, Suki just rolls her eyes. Katara glances over at her.

“You alright? You’re quieter today,” Katara asks.

“I’m fine, I have this thing I gotta work with the other TA in my department, Sokka, we didn’t exactly have the best start.”

“Sokka?” Katara gasps, “My _brother?!_ ”

Suki stares at her, “Your...brother?”

Toph lets out a cackle, “Oh...you have to work with _Snoozles_!”

Suki glances at her watch and silently thanks Agni that its 6pm, “Alright, tutoring over, I will see you guys on Wednesday.”

Katara and Toph are still giggling when they wave goodbye. Suki debates slamming her head into the table, would a concussion get her out of this? She sees Sokka, still in those horrid jorts, walking with another boy, who she does recognize.

“Zuko?!” Suki says.

Zuko pales a bit, which is surprising, given how pale he already is, Sokka is also staring at him wide-eyed. It dawns on her that she’s shit-talked Sokka to Zuko when Zuko is friends with Sokka. Suddenly, the idea of a concussion is very appealing to Suki. Zuko lets out an awkward cough and glances at his phone.

“Oh, well, Jet just texted...I...uh...gotta go,” he says, rather quickly, before rushing off.

“Jet?!” Sokka and Suki call out in unison.

Zuko is already gone though, Sokka glances down at Suki, before taking a seat across from her. He unpacks his laptop and notebooks in silence. Suki also does not say anything, she doesn’t know what to say. The silence is incredibly _awkward_ , Suki feels like an idiot for not knowing what to say, but she did put the boy in a chokehold earlier today. However, with Sokka being this close to her, she has to admit, he’s _really_ pretty. His dark brown hair has a few baby hairs framing his face, with the rest pulled back into two braids until it leads into the ponytail. His jaw is defined. He has dark skin and even darker freckles splotching along his cheeks and nose. His blue eyes meet hers for a moment before he glances back down at his notes. He clears his throat awkwardly.

“I’ve never met a TA that was a girl before,” he says.

Suki scoffs, “Wow Sokka...it’s like...I’m a TA, but a girl too...did you grow up under a rock?”

If Suki looks closer, she could swear Sokka was _blushing_.

“I really am sorry, about this morning. That was really rude of me to say,” he mumbles.

“It was,” Suki says, “But, apology accepted. We should probably get started on this.”

“Yeah, we should,” Sokka says.

“Who was the other boy? The one with you this morning?” Suki asks.

“Hm? Oh! That’s Aang, he’s currently dating my sister, which hm, but he’s really cool, he’s my favorite student.”

“Katara and Toph are my favorite students.”

“ _Katara?!_ _My sister?!_ How dare she betray me like this.”

“Maybe if you didn’t say sexist shit, she would like you.”

“Listen--”

“No.”

Sokka groans and Suki chuckles. He isn’t so bad to talk to after all. Once they get past the initial awkwardness, and figure out what they’re going to do, the project goes quite smoothly. They spend most of the time cracking jokes instead of working, but soon they have half the project done. Sokka is messing around on AvatarPoint, trying to add cool transitions to the slides when he pauses. Suki is scribbling in her notebook, outlining the rubric.

“Hey...Suki,” Sokka whispers.

Suki looks up from her notes at him, his eyes are wide.

“What time is it?”

Suki glances at her watch and her jaw drops, “Bro, it’s 3am.”

“ _3am?!_ No wonder the lights are off!”

“The lights?” Suki starts, looking around.

Sure enough, the lights are off, and everything is quiet. There’s no one here but them. Sokka starts laughing.

“Oh Tui and La,” he cackles, “We really didn’t notice, the whole library is closed.”

Suki starts laughing too, then stops, “Wait, are we locked in?”

Sokka stops laughing, “Oh, shit.”

Sokka stands up and rushes to the nearest door and pulls. The door doesn’t budge.

“You sure it’s not a push door?” Suki asks.

Sokka pushes, nothing. He turns to her, a grin on his face.

“We’re really locked in,” he says, laughing in disbelief, “We are _locked in_.”

Suki is not about to deal with Sokka having a breakdown. She stands up and walks over to him, placing her hands on his shoulder and staring at him.

“Take a breath, dude, we’ll be fine. Also, this could be fun, we have the _whole library_ to ourselves, we can do what we want!” Suki says, smiling.

Sokka collects himself and nods. They pack their bags and leave them by the table, it’s not like anyone can steal from them. They wander down the bookshelves, talking aimlessly. Suki turns and notices Sokka isn’t next to her. Sokka pulls out a few books on the other side of the bookshelf, grinning.

“So, do you come here often?” he asks.

Suki snorts, “Yeah, I live here.”

Sokka nods, placing the books on the ground. He squeezes his face into the open space and Suki admits to herself that he looks kind of cute like that. _Kind of_.

“Since we’re stuck in here, what’s something you’ve wanted to do, but can’t during open hours?” he asks.

“I’ve always wanted to go on the roof,” Suki admits.

Sokka yanks his face out of the shelf, running around and to her. He stands close to her, their hands brushing. Suki is suddenly thankful it’s dark, because she can feel her cheeks heat up.

“We could scale down,” Sokka says.

“What?” Suki asks, looking at him like he’s grown another head.

“We could scale down the side of the building! Home free!” Sokka says, grinning maniacally.

“Sokka...it’s straight down, there’s no way you could _scale down it_.”

“Oh? Like you could?”

“I could, yes.”

Sokka rolls his eyes. Then, he grabs her hand and Suki feels her heartbeat speed up.

“Let’s take a look anyways,” he says.

Suki is definitely not the only one blushing. He practically drags her up the stairwell that leads to the roof. The door to the roof is ajar, so there’s no way they’ll set off any alarm. Sokka pushes the door open, leading them out. The night sky is cool, refreshing. Suki lets go of his hand and walks over to the edge, staring down.

“Yeah, there’s no way,” she says.

“So we’re stuck?” Sokka asks.

“Big time.” she replies.

Suki lays down on the middle of the roof, Sokka lays down next to her.

“So,” he starts, “What’s your story?”

“My story?” Suki repeats.

“Yeah, how did you end up here?”

“Well, I got a full ride, I wanted to make my siblings proud,” Suki mumbles.

“You have siblings?” Sokka asks, turning to look at her.

Suki meets his gaze, _wow he is really pretty. Fuck._

“Uh, kind of. They’re not my actual siblings. We all grew up in the Kyoshi Warriors foster home, I was the oldest, so I helped take care of them. Went to college to show them nothing can stop them, you know?” Suki says.

“Yeah, kind of. Being the older sibling is rough. I love Katara, don’t get me wrong, but she can get _annoying_. But, I’m really proud of her.”

“I bet she’s proud of you, too.”

“I bet your siblings are proud of you,” Sokka whispers.

They stare at each other, for longer than normal. Suki feels herself blushing and looks back at the sky. Silence envelopes them again.

* * *

**Sokka's P.O.V**

“So, just two TAs up on the roof, two feet apart because they’re not gay,” Sokka laughs nervously. 

“I am,” Suki says matter-of-factly, “I’m bi, actually.”

“Oh, uh, me too. People don’t really get that though,” Sokka says, and sorta starts rambling on before he realizes he’s spilling his soul even more to his academic rival come study buddy come fellow library lock-up-ee, “when I was with Yue people thought I had to be straight. When I thought I liked Zuko they told me I was gay. It’s like they don’t think I exist! And I do.” 

Suki looks at him, and the faint scowl she always has when he’s talking has gone away, “Fuck, I know. I hate that. When I was with Ty Lee, I felt all this pressure to identify as a lesbian, because I was with her. And I didn’t want people to think I wanted to be with anyone else. Even though I know that’s not what it means. It’s so frustrating!”

“People can be so stupid sometimes!” 

“I know,” she turns and smirks at him, “Trust me I know.”

“Not funny.” 

“Come on, you deserved that.”

“Okay, I deserved that,” he laughs with her. 

It’s easier than he imagined, just hanging out with her. Alone, on the roof. Ironically he’s never felt as grounded as he does right now, several stories in the air. The air is clear in Ba Sing Se this time of year. The stars are clear above them. Tiny pinpricks of white in a dark blanket of cold, black-blue. It’s beautiful. They’re beautiful. He looks at her and suddenly breathes in. _Fuck._ She’s _beautiful._ He’s an idiot. She’s beautiful, and he’s an idiot. This is _not good._

He sees her shivering, and suddenly has a brainwave. His one, overworked brain cell kicks into high gear. And he moves to take off his own sweatshirt. Unfortunately for him though, and for the spirit of gallantry everywhere, it gets caught about his head. He struggles for a second and then manages to yank it over his head. He’s blown it now. Lost his chance with her for sure. But the way she’s looking at him. _Maybe not?_

“Gimme that,” she says, and she pulls it over her head, “That’s much better.”

“I’m glad.”

“I’m used to a warmer climate.” 

“I’m used to a colder one,” he says, and he notices she’s blushing. _Interesting._

He tests his luck, “So you like my sweatshirt, huh?” 

“I have school spirit,” she says a bit defensively, using the fact that it is in fact a _BSSU_ sweatshirt. 

_Oh, sure._

“Have you ever looked at the stars like this?” she lies down on her back, and Sokka joins her. 

“We used to look at the stars like this all the time,” Sokka says. 

“What changed?” Suki asks. 

Sokka considers. He’s never really talked about this with someone before. Someone other than Katara, who of course understands exactly what he means. The answer is a little sad, and he normally doesn’t like to bring down the mood, but this is Suki. He feels somewhere deep down, that she’ll understand this. 

“We used to go camping a lot, the four of us, me, Mom, Dad, and Katara. And then, when she got sick, things changed.”

“I’m sorry,” Suki says, and he knows that it’s genuine, the feeling extends to her eyes, and even the corners of her mouth are turned down in concern. 

“It’s okay.”

“Sokka,” she says, rather firmly, like she says _everything_ , “It doesn’t have to be okay.”

There’s a softness in her eyes he didn’t see there before. Back when he was obsessed with being better than her. He feels like he can go on. Like he can tell her. He suppresses a familiar urge to crack a joke, and clears his throat a bit before going on. 

“Sometimes it _does_ have to, Suki. I mean you know that, for the kids,” Sokka explains. 

“I get that,” she says, and her hand brushes against the side of his sweatshirt. She’s still staring straight ahead but her hand finds his. She lays her fingers against his open palm. He intertwines his fingers with hers and holds on tight. He knows his hand is a little sweaty, it’s the inherent nervousness that comes with holding hands with a girl who you just _know_ is cooler than you in every conceivable way you can imagine. He hopes she doesn’t mind. She gives his hand a gentle squeeze. Maybe she doesn’t. 

“It doesn’t excuse it, like, at all, but I think part of the reason I was such a jerk is actually because of how intimidated I am by you.” 

“By me?” she raises one eyebrow in surprise, and sort of scooches closer in a way that’s oh-so-cute. By Tui and La. Sokka’s done for. 

“All you guys, honestly. I know you were tutoring Katara and Toph today but other than science and stuff they pretty much just _get_ things really easily. I...I don’t. They’re basically little baby geniuses. I’m just the guy in the group that’s normal.”

“Sokka, _none_ of this comes easy for me. Do you know how hard I worked to even get into this school? I must have spent _months_ studying for entrance exams. I took the practice ones they have published a _million_ times. Sokka, I respect the value of hard work. And I like how passionate you are about things. I think that’s cool. And I _know_ that’s more important than just ‘being smart’.” 

He likes how quickly she speaks when she’s got a strong feeling about something. The fierceness in her eyes. How it fades back into that playful smile so easily. He can’t stop looking at her. 

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, ya know. Sometimes I worry too. That I’m not doing a good job, or this TA thing--I worry about not getting through to people.” 

“My sister says you help her a lot, so don’t worry about that. And! And, I’d say you’re pretty good at getting through to people. I’ve been told I can be kinda--”

“Pigheaded?”

“That _is_ the word Katara usually uses, but I was gonna go with stubborn.” 

“Thanks, Sokka” she says, and they’re quiet for a minute. _Spirits_ , he even likes the way she says his name.

He’s always wondered what to say during moments like these. He had gone on one or two dates with Zuko, but it had never quite been like this. Zuko and him were friends, like brothers practically, in how close they were, but he had never felt what he’s feeling now. Mothflys are floating around in his stomach. He’s a little dizzy even though he’s lying down and most of the blood is probably flowing to his head anyway. Because underneath all the bravado he doesn’t really know what to say when he thinks someone likes him, and he likes them back. 

With everything else: studying, teaching, and cracking jokes, he’s always just gone with his gut and had things work out. If not, he’s just worked his ass off to compensate for the fact that he doesn’t always just _get it_ the way some people do. Like Aang, Katara and Zuko do. But this? Right now? He’s confused. 

“I like your hands,” he says, and immediately regrets it, “Not because you’re a girl, or anything, or...I don’t know. Just pretend I didn’t say anything.” 

“I like your hair.” 

“What?”

“I thought we were saying things we like about each other? That’s what makes me such a good TA. I pick up on patterns, bro.” 

_Seriously? Are we back on the TA thing again?_

“I pick up on patterns too. And, uh,” Sokka swallows nervously, “something about what we’re doing now tells me that we might kiss.” 

He _really, really_ hopes he didn’t read this wrong. 

“Interesting hypothesis,” she smiles cheekily. 

“We should test it,” Sokka says, a bit meekly, a faint wave of excitement bubbling in his chest. 

“Scientifically.”

“ _Scientifically_ ,” Sokka says, and he notices Suki leaning towards him. Her face coming closer inch by inch, until he can feel her warm breath on his lips. He closes his eyes, and she kisses him. It’s a soft, chaste kiss, and she blushes a bit as she pulls away. 

“Wow,” Sokka says, and he hopes it doesn’t come off the wrong way. 

“Wow what?”

“I--you, that was amazing. Can I?”

She nods. So he kisses her again. She melts into his touch and he puts his hands into her soft hair. 

“You’re still an idiot,” she says between kisses. But now, it feels like a compliment, an in-joke. There’s only a short road between ‘an idiot’ and ‘my idiot’ and he wants to go down it with her. He wants to _soo_ bad. 

“And I thought you were warming up to me,” he says, slinging an arm around her waist and pulling her flush against him. 

“They’re not mutually exclusive.” 

“You’re still super stubborn.” 

_Kiss._

“Stubborn bitches get shit done.” 

_Kiss._

Then Sokka remembers the bet, he stops kissing her for a second, holds her against him, and just starts laughing. 

“What happened?!” 

“I...I owe Zuko and Toph _so much_ money. They told me. They told me I had a thing for you and that you--”

“That I what?” she raises an eyebrow again.

Given all the kissing, Sokka should be more sure that she has a thing for him too. But he doesn’t like taking chances. And he’s better safe than sorry. 

“That you...are a very good TA?” 

“The best.”

_Shit._ He had really hoped. Ah, well.

“But I like you too,” she says it quickly, and turns up the hood on his sweatshirt. He likes how it’s a little big on her. She looks so comfy. A little goofy. 

They talk a little more after that. But soon it’s just bits and pieces. And Sokka’s half awake and half asleep. Going in and out of little half-dreams. He doesn’t know who scoots closer. He doesn’t know whether he pulls Suki into his arms, or why she ends up with her head on his chest and one arm thrown across him. But if they wake up like that the next morning that’s no one else’s business but theirs. 

**Author's Note:**

> snowandfire and i went feral writing this fnjkcndjks i hope y'all enjoyed! you can follow me on tumblr @kahtara and snowandfire @bluberry-spicehead!!!


End file.
